A couple in Illinois has an ambitious aim: to make typically challenging literary classics accessible to children. (See, for example, the abridged and heavily sanitized version of Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road or Truman Capote’s novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s.)

The creators of KinderGuides, Melissa Medina and Frederik Colting, believe that it’s important to get children “really psyched about these books now, so that they’ll want to read the originals later,” Medina told The New York Times.

But some believe KinderGuides’ attempt to convert tomes into children’s books is unnecessary, and may even “exploit parents’ insecurities.” “It’s ludicrous to take great works that are clearly for adults and reduce them for children,” said Monica Edinger, a fourth-grade teacher at the Dalton School in Manhattan, to the Times.

Ultimately, KinderGuides has entered an increasingly lucrative market. Another company, BabyLit, has sold over 1.5 million copies of its twenty-four renditions, which include board book versions of Anna Karenina, Don Quixote, Wuthering Heights, and other classics.

Check out KinderGuides’ book teasers for more information.

Image Credit: KinderGuides.